1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the manufacture of a continuous sheet of flat glass wherein the glass is supported on a pool of molten metal during its forming and is then lifted from the pool of molten and conveyed away from it. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for stabilizing the position and orientation of a sheet of glass conveyed upwardly from a pool of molten metal where it had been formed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Molten glass may be formed into a continuous sheet or ribbon of glass according to the teachings of Heal, U.S. Pat. No. 710,357 or of Hitchcock, U.S. Pat. No. 789,911. Following the formation of a continuous sheet of glass from molten glass, the sheet of glass may be removed from the surface of the supporting pool of molten metal upon which it was formed by conveying it horizontally over some end dam or weir at the end of the forming chamber, but preferably glass is lifted slightly from the surface of the pool of molten metal and then conveyed away from it. According to the teachings of a cross-referenced application of Gerald E. Kunkle, a continuous sheet of glass may be formed from the surface of a pool of molten metal so that it reaches its final width and thickness and then lifted upwardly from the surface of the pool of molten metal and conveyed upwardly, and preferably vertically, from the surface of the pool of molten metal and from an enclosed forming chamber containing that pool of molten metal. When lifting a continuous sheet of relatively hot glass upwardly from a pool of molten metal, it is found desirable to stabilize the orientation and position of the upwardly conveyed sheet of glass immediately above the location where it is lifted from the pool of molten metal upon which it was formed. The present invention provides an apparatus for stabilizing the position of such a continuous sheet of glass.